Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 22, 2025 i Woman's Day Magazine NZ

Moments after releasing her new single Man Of The Year, Lorde belatedly walked the red carpet at the Aotearoa Music Awards in Auckland, where she picked up Single of the Year for Girl, So Confusing, her cult collaboration with Charli XCX. Speaking to media backstage afterwards, the chart-topper said, “I’m honestly kind of in shock to win this. It means a lot. I’m so grateful.” Of being part of the “Brat summer” phenomenon, she added, “It was truly a life-changing experience... It was just really fun to hang out with Charli!” Lorde also showed her admiration for Stan Walker, who took out the Te Māngai Pāho Mana Reo trophy, as well as Best Māori Artist. Of recording music in te reo, the Australian Idol winner told Woman’s Day, “There was…

Billy Joel’s ex-wife Christie Brinkley and their daughter Alexa are sending all their love to the Piano Man, 76, after the Grammy Award winner cancelled his latest tour, revealing he’s battling a brain disorder. Billy has normal pressure hydrocephalus, which affects his vision, hearing and balance. It has been exacerbated by his recent performances. “It’s an incredibly difficult time for Billy, who’s always been a proud man,” a family source tells us. “To not be able to perform has ripped his heart out – and Christie and his three daughters know this.”…

Sipping on French bubbly while lapping up the sunshine on Vanuatu’s beautiful Champagne Beach, Jay-Jay is feeling pretty darn lucky as she celebrates her 51st birthday in paradise. “I thought today was going to be very low-key, but in the end, it’s been so much fun,” she grins, speaking to Woman’s Day while stretched out on her towel under a palm tree. “I feel so special and spoilt.” The radio legend – who now runs the Podlab podcast company alongside her ex Dominic Harvey – started her day at Turtle Bay Lodge, on the idyllic island of Espiritu Santo, where resort staff sang Happy Birthday while Jay-Jay enjoyed a breakfast of tropical fruit. Then the resort’s manager surprised her with a gift of flowers, candles and perfume, all organised by…

After two years of keeping quiet, Deborra-Lee Furness is finally ready for an explosive tell-all about her ex Hugh Jackman and his new girlfriend Sutton Foster, having officially filed for divorce late last month. According to a source close to the Aussie actress, Deb, 69, is preparing “to tell her side of the story” in the shape of a “divorce diary”, which could be shopped to a publisher as soon as her divorce settlement has been finalised and her legal team gives her the OK. “Deb’s been desperate to have her side of the story out there,” the insider spills to Woman’s Day. “She’s been writing down all her thoughts – the good and the bad – and logging every detail of this ugly rollercoaster divorce. “As soon as her…

Radio listeners in Australia were last week treated to an A-list shock that’s sent one of Hollywood’s most rock-solid marriages into a tailspin. A caller from Melbourne named Claire phoned the Late Drive With Ben, Liam & Belle show, alleging she slept with 007 legend Pierce Brosnan 30 years ago – when he had just started dating now-wife Keely Shaye Smith. While Claire, 55, was cagey on the details, she claimed that her fling with the now-72-yearold actor occurred in 1995 and lasted the “duration of the film” they were working on. A quick search reveals the film in question to be The Disappearance Of Kevin Johnson – a mockumentary about the mysterious vanishing of a fictitious wealthy film producer, also starring Dudley Moore and James Coburn, that was shot…

Bindi Irwin shocked fans when she shared a video of herself – still groggy and grey-faced – from her hospital bed on social media, revealing she’d undergone major surgery in a US hospital after her appendix ruptured. The star had been noticeably absent from the annual Steve Irwin Gala in Las Vegas, with her brother Robert declaring that his sister’s health had to come first. But Bindi’s decision to jump straight onto social media so soon after surgery has some concerned the 26-year-old is once again putting the Irwin family business and her public profile ahead of her own personal needs. “Terri didn’t want to do a video, but Bindi insisted,” says an Irwin insider. “The whole family has been bombarded with well wishes, and everyone’s been so concerned and…

When Kiwi acting duo Ella Hope-Higginson and Milo Cawthorne talk to Woman’s Day about their thriving careers, they both credit early mentors for spurring them on. “When Milo was 12, growing up in Whangārei, his drama teachers took him to Auckland to get him an agent because he was such a sweet child actor,” tells Ella, 32. Milo, also 32, continues, “They were headed to the city on a mission and said, ‘You’re coming too,’ and we all signed with the same agency. Off the back of that, I got some kids’ TV shows in my early teens.” He’s been working steadily ever since, playing bumbling Dr Vincent Hughes on Shortland Street, as well as appearing in A Remarkable Place To Die, Pork Pie and The Brokenwood Mysteries. As for…

Let’s address the elephant in the room. I am dating a younger man. I know what you’re thinking: What on earth could a 32-year-old man find attractive about a 51-year-old woman? And what could we possibly have in common? I’m not usually one to float my own boat, but in this case, I need to point out the obvious – I’m awesome! I’m cute, fun, successful, mature, and experienced in life, love and career. What’s not to love? It’s well known that women come into their own around middle age and lots of men find this confidence sexy. My boyfriend certainly does. He also loves my blue eyes and great sense of humour. As for what we have in common, well, this is kind of personal, but we find each…

Has it crept up on you slowly or come in a chilly rush? However it arrived, there’s no denying winter is here. Many of the plants in your garden will be taking a well-earned break, but it’s by no means a quiet time… FLOWERING NOW There’s a huge variety of plants in bloom, from the divinely perfumed to the downright flamboyant. HEBE These gorgeous evergreen natives have been heavily hybridised to maximise flowers and form. Prized for their bee-friendly flowers and thick foliage, there are varieties for all sorts of situations, from feature planting to low border hedges. CYCLAMEN This delightful plant is generally sold in pots for indoors, but it’s suitable for sheltered outdoor spots too. You can improve flowering by putting them outdoors overnight as the cold will…

STICKY DATE CRUMBLE PUDDINGS MAKES 4 PREP 20 MINS COOK 25 MINS • ¾ cup pitted dates, coarsely chopped • ½ tsp baking soda • 50g butter, softened • ½ cup firmly packed brown sugar • 1 egg • ½ cup self-raising flour • ¼ cup plain flour • 1 x 50g Crunchie bar, roughly chopped (see tip) • whipped cream, to serve CRUMBLE • 1 ½ tbsp plain flour • 30g butter, chopped • ½ cup rolled oats • 1 ½ tbsp brown sugar 1 Lightly grease four ramekins (1-cup capacity). 2 Combine dates and ½ cup boiling water in a heat-proof bowl. Stir in baking soda and stand for 10 mins. 3 CRUMBLE Sift flour into a small bowl. Rub in butter. Mix in oats and sugar. 4…

Scaredy cat AMANDA SAYS Socks tells me that she’s still living, sharing her home with another cat called Blackie and sometimes a ginger cat who is a stray. Socks herself was a stray and was guided to Pauline’s home by Pauline’s parents, who loved animals. Socks says she was abandoned by her original owners. She has been living with Pauline and her husband for about three years now, and is around eight years old. Socks and Blackie sometimes cuddle up together, though they have their moments. Socks has a major thyroid issue but the natural medication she is on is really helping her. She also has anxiety, but loves the freedom of being indoors and outdoors, and really appreciates both. Blackie enjoys the outdoors too – he was another one…

Where did the inspiration for your new novel come from? Partly this book exists because I wanted to write about two people competing for the same job while falling in love and partly it exists because I wanted to write about mother-daughter relationships. I was thinking a lot about legacy, and the idea of the way that everything good and bad passed down to us shapes us. Is there a romance trope that’s your favourite? My favourite, as a reader, is enemies-to-lovers. But in real life, there’s nothing better than a slow burn. What’s the most embarrassing thing you’ve done for love? I’ve done all kinds of humiliating things! I remember a tender moment singing Beyoncé’s 1+1 to my partner, which if you’d heard me sing, you’d understand the vulnerability!…

Leave it to Taylor Swift’s dad to step in and sort out the It Ends With Us drama! It’s been revealed Scott Swift was behind the bombshell revelation that Blake Lively’s legal team had threatened to leak her private texts with Taylor amid her ongoing legal battle with Justin Baldoni. Justin’s legal eagle Bryan Freedman claimed in a letter to a judge that Blake’s lawyer Michael Gottlieb had demanded that Taylor “release a statement of support” for Blake, suggesting that if she refused “private text messages of a personal nature” would be released. Now sources are saying it was Taylor’s dad Scott who leaked the information to Justin’s lawyer in a bid to stop Taylor, 35, from being dragged into the case. “Taylor stlll considers Blake a close friend, but…

Prince Harry is said to be reeling from news that Park House – the Sandringham home where his late mother, Princess Diana, was born and raised until the age of 14 – has been allowed to fall into disrepair. We’re told the Duke of Sussex considers it a further betrayal by his father, the King, and is furious that Charles, 76, would permit the property to fall into ruin. “Seeing how her childhood home has been neglected enrages Harry,” a well-placed insider tells Woman’s Day. “He can’t believe his father would allow it to get like that.” To add insult to injury, the mansion is located just 500m away from Charles’ immaculately kept 150-bedroom Sandringham House. The monarch has recently ploughed cash into several projects on the estate, including a…

As Hugh is forced to deal with the public ramifications of ex Deborra-Lee’s blistering divorce statement, Woman’s Day hears the Music Man performer has also been met with a few more bumps in the road as he tries to navigate family life – particularly with his and Deb’s adopted children, Oscar, 25, and Ava, 19, and his new girlfriend Sutton. A source close to the family explains that while Hugh has every hope of including Sutton in upcoming family events, the Broadway actress is a little more apprehensive. “It was Oscar’s birthday recently and Ava’s is coming up in July, and Hugh couldn’t see an issue with wanting to include ‘his other half’ in their celebrations,” the insider tells us. But Sutton – who also has an adopted daughter, seven-year-old…

He’s Romeo by name and Romeo by nature, with the 22-year-old son of David and Victoria sparking engagement rumours as his girlfriend Kim Turnbull flashed a diamond ring during a recent London night out. “Romeo and Kim are moving fast, and an engagement is already being talked about,” a family source tells us. “Victoria thinks it’s too soon and wants them to take as much time as possible, but he’s crazy in love with Kim. For now, they’re denying they’re engaged, but it’s set off alarm bells for his folks. They like Kim and see why he’s so smitten, but they’re still reeling from how Brooklyn’s marriage turned out. The last thing anyone wants to think about is another wedding.”…

“For the end of this chapter, I choose to focus on a good smemory like this picture,” Jelena Dokic wrote movingly beside a rare shot of her father Damir Dokic hugging her as a child. It’s a memory that the tennis superstar is holding close in the wake of her estranged father’s death from cancer, aged 67, on 16 May. The 42-year-old had a famously troubled relationship with her father and coach Damir, who was known as the “tennis dad from hell” and shockingly made her sign over millions of dollars to him when she was just 19. Regarded as a tennis prodigy who could have made it to world number one, Jelena’s sporting career was derailed by years of violence and abuse, on and off the tennis court, at…

Robert’s been busy on the dating scene! The 21-year-old was snapped getting flirty with a mystery blonde – whom a TV insider reveals he met on the US set of DWTS. The star – who split from Aussie girlfriend Rorie Buckey last year – revealed recently that he goes to Bindi and Terri, 60, for dating advice, and that he knows his “someone special” is “out there”. He says, “You just have to let it happen – you have to be open to it. It’ll all fall into place when it’s meant to.”…

Up until now, I’d been to Hong Kong only once before. Or, more accurately, a brief stopover in Hong Kong International Airport before journeying onwards. As it is for many Kiwis travelling overseas, Hong Kong’s busy airport – with 53 million passengers a year! – is a connecting hub for 180 cities around the world. But Hong Kong is so much more than just a stopover. A multi-sensory experience, it’s a place of contrasts, culture and, of course, tasty offerings, from street food to fine dining. Here in Aotearoa, some of Hong Kong’s most famous dishes are our favourites too. Think sweet and sour pork, dim sum, hot pot and for something special, roast goose. SPARKLING GEM After a 11.5-hour flight from Auckland, it was breathtaking to see the hustle…

Killer legs! ALEXANDER SKARSGÅRD The thigh’s the limit for the Murderbot actor, who flaunted his perfect pins in some incredibly revealing shorts while visiting British morning show Lorraine to promote his new sci-fi comedy series. Hi-diddly-ho, Harry! HARRY STYLES Channelling everyone’s favourite annoying neighbour Ned Flanders, the moustachioed popstar looked blue as he strutted his stuff in London. Hope you’re doing “okily dokily”, Harry! TOM’S FACE-OFF! TOM CRUISE He’s ridden on the outside of planes – and now the Mission: Impossible star has revealed his most daring stunt yet... pretending to be late-night talk-show host Jimmy Fallon! Take a bow ... or four GWEN STEFANI & JENNIFER LOPEZ Pop princess Gwen celebrated 20 years since her first solo project at the American Music Awards in Las Vegas, while J.Lo wore…

Kelly Clarkson’s putting family first as she negotiates whether to stay on her wildly popular chat show after a string of absences, amid rumours execs are lining up a replacement. “Kelly’s in negotiations, so there’s all kind of talk going on right now,” reports a well-placed source on the Kelly Clarkson Show set. “She’s playing hard to get because she’s got nothing to lose and frankly, a lot to gain. Sure, the money’s insane, but home is where the heart is and filming in New York for most of the year is a nightmare. “She’s constantly missing Texas and her ranch in Montana, where the family is happiest. If she signs on again, it’s likely it’ll be her last season.” Rumour has it that if Kelly, 43, decides to walk…

He’s of Māori and Samoan descent, and stars in Netflix’s new comedy North Of North, set in a Canadian Inuit community, but growing up in England caused some confusion for Kiwi comedian Bailey Poching. “I had no real cultural touchstones of how an indigenous Pacific man should behave,” the 27-yearold tells Woman’s Day. “I have a British sensibility about me sometimes.” Bailey, who has Ngāti Whatua ki Kaipara heritage, only moved to New Zealand when he was 19. He recalls, “My flight from Manchester landed at the same time as a flight from Samoa. I came into the arrivals lounge and saw all these beautiful brown families hugging. It was this really romantic image. I fell in love with Aotearoa so quickly.” The comedian gained a following with his role…

More than three decades after the death of legendary Queen frontman Freddie Mercury, a bombshell new biography has revealed the existence of a secret love child. For nearly 50 years, only a handful of people in the rocker’s innermost circle ever knew that he had a daughter. Now Love, Freddie, by famed biographer Lesley-Ann Jones, lifts the lid on the child, who grew up knowing Freddie was her real father. Conceived accidentally during a fling with the wife of one of Freddie’s close friends in 1976, a year after Bohemian Rhapsody was released, it was decided the child would live with her mother and stepdad, with Freddie helping to raise her. “Freddie visited and stayed with them frequently,” says Lesley-Ann. “He spoke to his daughter every day when he was…

“Rob’s had his busiest year ever with a schedule that set off alarm bells with Bindi,” an insider reports. The co-host of Aussie reality series I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!, he recently jetted over to the US to announce he was starring in the 34th season of Dancing With The Stars over there, before jumping on a flight back to Australia to attend a netball game on the Sunshine Coast. He was later seen working the crowd – and the crocs – alongside Terri and Bindi at the weekly show at Australia Zoo.…

Ever since their now-famous synchronised interview recounting a violent carjacking aired on TV, identical twins Bridgette and Paula Powers, affectionately known as “the Twinnies”, have had the world in a tailspin. But it wasn’t until US latenight talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live! got in touch with them that the Queensland sisters, 51, realised they’d gone viral in a very big way. Speaking in unison to Woman’s Day, as they did in the video, the twins recall, “They contacted us and said, ‘Do you know you’ve gone viral?’ It must have been 12 hours after the interview aired. We had no idea. We just can’t believe it’s gone around the world.” The pair say they have been inundated with requests ever since, with Saturday Night Live using their likeness in a…

AILEEN WUORNOS Wuornos, played by Charlize Theron in Monster, killed seven men while working as a prostitute in Florida between 1989 and 1990. Sentenced to death, she was executed in 2002. Rachel says Wuornos snapped after years of trauma and hardship. “She went through so much and was clearly mentally ill, and we still executed her,” she says. JEFFREY DAHMER Best known as the Milwaukee Cannibal and for his good looks, Dahmer killed 17 people between 1978 and 1991. His case ignited Rachel’s fascination for killers. “I was 14 when I discovered real bogeymen like Dahmer exist and that got me interested in how people can do inhumane things,” she says. IVAN MILAT Australia’s most notorious serial killer, Milat was convicted for killing seven backpackers between 1989 and 1993, but…

CHICKEN TORTILLA BAKE SERVES 4 PREP 15 MINS COOK 40 MINS • 510g jar Moroccan chicken cooking sauce • 400g can red kidney beans, rinsed, drained • 12 corn tortillas, cut into strips • 1 barbecued chicken, shredded • 2 cups grated tasty cheese • baby cos wedges, fresh coriander leaves, to serve 1 Grease an ovenproof dish (8-cup capacity). 2 Combine sauce and beans in a large bowl. Arrange a third of the tortilla strips in base of prepared dish. Top with half of the chicken and half of the sauce mixture. Sprinkle with one-third of the cheese. Repeat layers, finishing with tortilla strips. Cover with foil. 3 Cook in a 180°C preheated oven for 30 mins. Remove foil. Sprinkle remaining cheese over tortillas. Cook for a further 10…

Q Will my daughter-in-law and son have a good pregnancy this time? They suffered great heartache last year losing twins. Are they having twins again? Concerned Mother MITCHELL SAYS I’m so sorry for the heartache they suffered when losing their twins last year, but please know the souls of these babies are at peace with their angels – and they will always be close to their mum and dad. I have a lady from your mother’s side coming through. She smiles, telling me she is watching over your daughter-inlaw and son. She is protecting the soul of a little one waiting to be born. I’m not shown if they will have another set of twins, but I keep picking up a beautiful aura of harmony around this pregnancy. I believe…